The Psychology of Social Influence

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Transcript of The Psychology of Social Influence

Evolutionary Bases of Social Influence Social influence relies on six major processesReciprocityConsistencySocial ValidationLikingAuthorityScarcity Most social mammals have the desire toFit in their group - reciprocity, consistency, social validation, likingDo what powerful others tell them (authority)Most animals that can engage in goal directed behaviour value scarce resources (scarcity) Why these six dimensions?

Answer: they are linked to the core human goalssurvivalreproduction

But how?... Groups necessary for survival.

People have an inner Need To Belong (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).

Breaking group norms leads to social rejection. Why does it work? Why try to fit in? Why not ignorethe norms? Social rejection has negative effects virtually on all aspects ofhuman life. It is detrimental to an individual's everyday funtioning.(Twenge et al., 2003) We help those who help us, we harm those who harm us. Encourages cooperation and limits competition.Common to all human cultures and most social animals.We are more likely to change behaviour for someone who has previously changed for us. We feel a deep need to give something back. Reciprocity Provides information on how to act, helps to predict how an individual from a particular group might actPeople are inclined to follow the crowd Social Validation People try to act in a manner that is consistent with their beliefs, desires and previous behavioursHypocrisy is a negative traitConsistency is induced when one takes a stand on somethingPeople will be willing to comply to requests which are consistent with a position they had previously adopted Consistency People are more likely to change behaviour for those who they likei.e. friends and partners are more influential than acquaintances, aquaintances than strangers, strangers than enemies Liking What makes us likeable?attractivenesssimilarity Powerful individuals are extremely influential - parents, teachers, professionals, leadersPeople are likely to follow powerful others because they control rewards and punishmentsInteresting question: what's the stopping point? Authority People and most animals are motivated to acquire and hold rare or scarce itemsThey are likely to change behaviour if it leads to getting valuable resources Scarcity How it all works... Baumeister, R. F. (1982). A self-presentational view of social phenomena. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 3-26.Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497-529.Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univeristy Press.Griskevicius, V., Goldstein, N.J., Mortensen, C.R., Sundie, J.M., Cialdini, R.B., & Kenrick, D.T. (2009). Fear and loving in Las Vegas: Evolution, emotion, and persuasion. Journal of Marketing Research, 46, 384–395. References Maddux, W. W., Mullen, E., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Chameleons bake bigger pies and take bigger pieces: Strategic behavioral mimicry facilitates negotiation outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44(2), 461–468.Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral Study of Obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378.Pliner, P., Hart, H.,Kohl, J., & Saari, D. (1974). Compliance without pressure: Some further data on the Foot-In-The-Door technique. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10, 17-22.Provine, R. R. (2000). Laughter: A scientific investigation. UK: Faber and Faber.Slater, A., Von der Schulenburg, C., Brown, E., & Badenoch, M. (1998). Newborn infants prefer attractive faces. Infant Behavior and Development, 21(2), 345–354.Twenge, J. M., Catanese, K.R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Social exclusion and the deconstructed state: Time perception, meaninglessness, lethargy, lack of emotion and self-awareness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 409–423. References contd